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yellow · warm

#e4d821

a balanced, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Gold

Token name suggestion: Studio Citron

RGB
228, 216, 33
HSL
56°, 78%, 51%
CMYK
0, 5, 86, 11
Luminance
0.6572

#e4d821 is a balanced electric yellow, 56° on the wheel and 22/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.14:1). As text it scores 1.48:1 on white — use #807910 instead. Nearest name is Gold, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(56 78% 51%)rgb(228 216 33)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #e4d821 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#e4d821
Hue
56°
yellow
Saturation
78%
electric
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6572
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
22/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.14:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
81.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.865
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 13.5
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue56° of 360°
Saturation78%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #e4d821.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool22% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red25%
Green75%
Blue0%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#e4d821
HEX (8-digit)#e4d821ff
RGBrgb(228, 216, 33)
RGBArgba(228, 216, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(56, 78%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(56, 86%, 89%)
HWBhwb(56 13% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 86%, 11%)
LABlab(84.8 -13.5 80.4)
LCHlch(84.8 81.5 99.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.865 0.178 105.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.83, 65.72, 11.13)
Decimal14997537
Display P3color(display-p3 0.894 0.847 0.129)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #e4d821;
background-color: #e4d821;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #e4d821;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#e4d821] bg-[#e4d821]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #e4d821;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.894, green: 0.847, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.894, green: 0.847, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#E4D821</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFE4D821)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFE4D821)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 216, 228)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(228, 216, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(228, 216, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 228, 216, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8941f, 0.8471f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{228,216,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #e4d821 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #e4d821 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#726C0E, #EEECD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #e4d821 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFBF3;
  --brand-100: #F9F8E6;
  --brand-200: #F5F2C7;
  --brand-300: #F3ED9B;
  --brand-400: #EDE569;
  --brand-500: #E7DC37;
  --brand-600: #e4d821;
  --brand-700: #B6AC16;
  --brand-800: #918A12;
  --brand-900: #696411;
  --brand-950: #423E0B;
  --brand: #e4d821;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EDEAC0;
  --brand-hover: #C9BE18;
  --brand-pressed: #A9A015;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EEECD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFBF3',
        100: '#F9F8E6',
        200: '#F5F2C7',
        300: '#F3ED9B',
        400: '#EDE569',
        500: '#E7DC37',
        600: '#e4d821',
        700: '#B6AC16',
        800: '#918A12',
        900: '#696411',
        950: '#423E0B',
        DEFAULT: '#e4d821',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFBF3,
  '100': #F9F8E6,
  '200': #F5F2C7,
  '300': #F3ED9B,
  '400': #EDE569,
  '500': #E7DC37,
  '600': #e4d821,
  '700': #B6AC16,
  '800': #918A12,
  '900': #696411,
  '950': #423E0B,
);
$brand-base: #e4d821;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFBF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9F8E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5F2C7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F3ED9B", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EDE569", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E7DC37", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#e4d821", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B6AC16", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#918A12", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#696411", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#423E0B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #e4d821 · 14.14:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #e4d821 as text scores 1.48:1 on white and 14.14:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #726C0E at 3.66:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#807910 · 4.51:1
AA on white−23% L
#807910
The quick fox
#605B0C · 7.00:1
AAA on white−30% L
#605B0C
The quick fox
#e4d821 · 14.14:1
AA on blackalready passes
#e4d821
The quick fox
#e4d821 · 14.14:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#e4d821

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A09713 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#e4d821 on white: 1.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#e4d821 on black: 14.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #e4d821 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #e4d821.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.48:1AaAa
Slate 501.42:1AaAa
Slate 1001.36:1AaAa
Slate 2001.20:1AaAa
Slate 3001.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.73:1AaAa
Slate 5003.20:1AaAa
Slate 6005.10:1AaAa
Slate 7006.97:1AaAa
Slate 8009.85:1AaAa
Slate 90012.02:1AaAa
Black14.14:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #ECD000
deuteranopia · #F0D735
tritanopia · #F6C8B9

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #e4d821 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCFBF3
#F9F8E6
#F5F2C7
#F3ED9B
#EDE569
#E7DC37
#e4d821
#B6AC16
#918A12
#696411
#423E0B
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCFBF3Darkest = 950 · #423E0BText step on white = 900
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.044 105.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.071 105.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.107 105.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.139 105.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.164 105.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.178 105.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.178 105.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.167 105.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.149 105.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.124 105.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.098 105.3);
}

Colors that work with #e4d821

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#EDEAC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B964B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1C5CE9
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#726C0E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFBE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#C9BE18
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A9A015
Two steps down
Disabled#CAC8AC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F2E528
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #e4d821

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #726C0E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A09713

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

optimisticalertcheap-and-cheerfulvisible

The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight49/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#212DE4
Analogous left#E47721
Analogous right#8FE421
Split-complement 1#218FE4
Split-complement 2#7721E4
Triadic 1#21E4D8
Triadic 2#D821E4
Tetradic#21E477
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°56°

#e4d821 sits at 56°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red89.4%
Green84.7%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
228
0xe4
G · 0–255
216
0xd8
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.3%
Yellow85.5%
Key (black)10.6%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#e4d821 text on a black background

contrast 14.14:1

Card sample

#e4d821 text on a white background

contrast 1.48:1

Card sample

#e4d821 on grey

1.36:1

#e4d821 on its own surface

1.42:1

#e4d821 on its dark surface

10.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #e4d821;
Background color
Panel with #e4d821 background
background-color: #e4d821;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #e4d821;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(228, 216, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(228, 216, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #e4d821;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #e4d821, #6EE421);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e4d821, #3DE421);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #e4d821;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #e4d821;
caret-color: #e4d821;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #e4d821;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCFBE8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #e4d821;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#e4d821 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #e4d821 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(228, 216, 33, 0.5)
rgb(228 216 33 / 50%)
#e4d82180
hsl(56 78% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #e4d821 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#e4d8211a#FCFBE9
20%#e4d82133#FAF7D3
40%#e4d82166#F4EFA6
60%#e4d82199#EFE87A
80%#e4d821cc#E9E04D

Gradients from #e4d821

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBE258, #e4d821 45%, #726C0E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #e4d821, #51CE19);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e4d821, #212DE4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EEE673 0%, #e4d821 45%, #726C0E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EA864F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8EE73C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #726C0E 0%, transparent 65%), #e4d821;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #e4d821

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#e4d821 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
RetailLeisureEnergyWarning systems
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 14.14:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#e4d821, answered

What color is #e4d821?

#e4d821 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 56° on the hue wheel with 78% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #e4d821?

rgb(228, 216, 33) — 228 red, 216 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 89.4% / 84.7% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #e4d821 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(56, 78%, 51%) and hsv(56, 86%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #e4d821 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6572 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 14.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #e4d821?

Black. It scores 14.14:1 against #e4d821, versus 1.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #e4d821 accessible on a white background?

#e4d821 on white scores 1.48:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #807910 to reach 4.5:1, or #605B0C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #e4d821?

#212DE4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #218FE4 and #7721E4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #e4d821?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDEAC0 for borders, #9B964B for secondary text, #1C5CE9 as an accent and #726C0E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #E47721 and #8FE421 stays calm, while #212DE4 is the loudest partner.

What is #e4d821 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 86%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #e4d821 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 22 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E4A221; nudged cooler, #AAE61F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #e4d821?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 13.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #e4d821 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #e4d821 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#e4d821] or text-[#e4d821], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #e4d821 with 50% opacity?

rgba(228, 216, 33, 0.5), or #e4d82180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F2EC90; over black, #726C11.

Is #e4d821 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #e4d821 mean?

As a yellow, it reads optimistic, alert, cheap-and-cheerful. The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #e4d821?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBE258, #e4d821 45%, #726C0E). For more colour, a short hue run to #51CE19 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #e4d821 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #e4d821 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.